Braves' Regulars Rest, Focus On Pirates

Atlanta's 8-game Winning Streak Ends, But The Players Are Thinking Only Of The Playoffs Beginning Wednesday Night.

October 7, 1991|By Brian Schmitz of The Sentinel Staff

ATLANTA — An 8-3 loss to Houston on Sunday ended the Atlanta Braves' eight-game winning streak - and their regular season. Make that irregular season.

Atlanta's 162nd game of the year was meaningless - but for altogether different reasons. An anticlimactic atmosphere never felt so good for America's Team.

The Braves were playing prospects and reserves and resting their stars with their next game in mind - not with next season in mind. And next up: The NL West champion Braves leave Tomahawk Town to face the East Division champion Pittsburgh Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in the best-of-seven championship series.

The only race remaining concerning the Braves was the race for the NL batting title. Third baseman Terry Pendleton (.319) won it, resting while Cincinnati's Hal Morris (.318) went 3-for-4. Morris needed to go 4-for-5 to overtake Pendleton. ''I would have sat out no matter what,'' Pendleton said. ''I've played in 104 straight games. I'm more concerned about starting the National League championships than worrying about a batting title.''

All the Braves' regulars welcomed the mini-vacation. ''No question, it felt good - I sat in the dugout with some sunflower seeds, had a candy bar and remembered how much fun we had yesterday (Saturday),'' said catcher Greg Olson, the workhorse who caught 112 games, including every game and almost every inning in September. ''It was a real nice off day.''

Atlanta had wrapped up a miraculous, worst-to-first year Saturday by beating Houston, 5-2, for its franchise-best 94th victory. That scrapbook victory, coupled with the Los Angeles Dodgers' second consecutive loss to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, handed Atlanta its first divisional title since '82.

Those developments alleviated what could have been a dramatic Sunday. A crowd of 42,764 tomahawkers on a chilly afternoon (game-time temperature was 63) pushed the once-floundering franchise's attendance to an Atlanta-record 2,140,217 - breaking the mark of 2,119,935 set in '83. (The franchise record was set in 1957 by the in Milwaukee Braves, who drew 2,215,404.)

Winning does that to a city, especially one as long-suffering as Atlanta. The Braves, who had the worst record in baseball last year at 65-97, drew fewer than a million - 980,129. Last season's home finale against the Astros on Sept. 23, attracted 9,060 - a nice crowd for a big high school game.

Now the second season begins. And the Braves, who posted the best record in the majors since the All-Star break, will see if their roll continues against Pittsburgh. Atlanta took nine of 12 from the Pirates this season, but, ''I don't think the Pirates care too much about that. It's going to start 0-0,'' said Braves pitcher Charlie Leibrandt, Sunday's loser.

Leibrandt (15-13) didn't have much of a chance as the Braves fielded what passed for a Class AAA lineup. The Astros touched Leibrandt for four quick runs after three innings, including a two-run homer by Mike Simms. The Braves responded with just six hits and made three errors.

The Pirates and Braves have similar strengths and weaknesses. Pittsburgh and Atlanta rank 1-2 in hitting and 2-3 in pitching behind L.A. They are powerful in the middle of the order - Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke of the Pirates matching up with Ron Gant, Dave Justice and Pendleton. The key may be which team gets into the other's bullpen first.

''We're at the top of our game,'' Glavine said. ''We've been through a lot of pressure in winning this. Pittsburgh has been able to rest for two weeks (since clinching), and I'm sure they remember last year (the Pirates lost the NLCS in six games to the Reds). I'm sure they don't want that to happen again.''